The penetration of formulated guthion® spray through selected fabrics

Abstract

A technique for comparing pesticide penetration through fabric was devised. It involved passing fabric swatches through a controlled spray system and measuring the pesticide residue transferring on and through the tested fabric. Six variations in fabric were selected for testing: 100% cotton woven chambray,

Scotch‐guard^® treated chambray, Tyvek^® , Crowntex^® , and two variations of Gore Tex^®. Guthion^® (azinphos‐methyl) was chosen as the insecticide for controlled use in this experiment because of its widespread use and relatively high toxicity.

Gas Chromatographie analysis of the amount of Guthion^® transferred through the outer fabric was made by the use of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan's multiple range test. The ANOVA for experiment replication showed no significant difference among the replications of each fabric. The treatment ANOVA was highly significant at the 0.01 level.

Duncan's multiple range test further analyzed the differences in the treatment, and three groups were found to be significantly different from each other. The two types of Gore Tex^®, Tyvek^® and Crowntex^® comprised the group permitting the least penetration. Scotch‐guard^® treated chambray followed, and untreated chambray allowed the greatest penetration.     

Quantitative Determination of Formaldehyde in the Parts Per Hundred Million Concentration Level

A new method has been developed for the determination of trace quantities of formaldehyde and appears to be superior to existing methods. The procedure is based on a modification of Schiff’s test for aldehydes. A mixture of dichlorosulfitomercurate II complex and acid bleached pararosaniline hydrochloride is used as the reagent. In the presence of formaldehyde, a purple color is produced. The method is highly sensitive to formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, simple and does not require concentrated acids. When applied to air pollution studies, the method is virtually free of interferences from higher aldehydes. The paper describes the application of this method to spot sampling of the atmosphere and to continuous atmospheric analysis.     

Impact of soil amendments on metribuzin and DCPA half-lives and mobility into agricultural runoff water

The retention and behavior of two herbicides, metribuzin [4-amino-6-tert-butyl-4, 5-dihydro-3-methylthio-1, 2, 4-triazin-5-one] and DCPA [1, 4-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, 2, 3, 5, 6-tetrachloro-, dimethyl] ester, in runoff and seepage water from agricultural fields were investigated. The objectives of this investigation were to: (i) determine the dissipation and half-life (T _1/2) of metribuzin and DCPA herbicides in soil under three management practices: chicken manure (CM), sewage sludge (SS), and no-mulch native soil (NM); (ii) monitor herbicides residues in runoff and infiltration water following addition of soil amendments; and (iii) determine the impact of soil amendments on the transport of NO₃, NH₄, and PO₄ from soil into surface and subsurface water. Half-life (T _1/2) values of metribuzin were 24, 18, and 12 d in CM, SS, and NM treatments, respectively. Similarly, T _1/2 values of DCPA were greater in CM and SS incorporated soil (45.8 and 52.2 d, respectively) compared to NM native soil (26.2 d). Addition of CM and SS to native agricultural soil increased water infiltration, lowering runoff water volume and herbicide residues in runoff following natural rainfall events. We concluded that soil amendments could be used to intercept pesticide-contaminated runoff from agricultural fields. This practice might provide a potential solution to pesticide contamination of surface and seepage water from farmlands.     

A roadmap to a green chemical industry in Australia

A ‘roadmap’ has been devised for a progressive greening of the Australian chemical industry over the next two decades. The roadmap is based on a set of interactive principles broadly termed ‘economic’, ‘social’, ‘technological’, ‘environmental’ and ‘political’, which collectively form the ‘drivers of change’ in chemical industry strategy/business/policy planning—leading to greater efficiency and economic sustainability of this industry. The proposed roadmap pre-supposes that real economic, societal and environmental benefits can be obtained through greater use of existing and emerging green chemical technology. It can play an important role in developing a sustainable chemical industry in Australia. Primarily, the proposed roadmap involves a paradigm shift of the business operating plan and a significant mindset change of management.     

Determination of selected semi-volatile organic compounds in water using automated online solid-phase extraction with large-volume injection/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

A rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective analytical method was developed for the analysis of selected semi-volatile organic compounds in water. The method used an automated online solid-phase extraction technique coupled with programmed-temperature vaporization large-volume injection gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The water samples were extracted by using a fully automated mobile rack system based on x-y-z robotic techniques using syringes and disposable 96-well extraction plates. The method was validated for the analysis of 30 semivolatile analytes in drinking water, groundwater, and surface water. For a sample volume of 10 mL, the linear calibrations ranged from 0.01 or 0.05 to 2.5 ??g·L^?1, and the method detection limits were less than 0.1 ??g·L^?1. For the reagent water samples fortified at 1.0 ??g·L^?1 and 2.0 ??g·L^?1, the obtained mean absolute recoveries were 70%?C130% with relative standard deviations of less than 20% for most analytes. For the drinking water, groundwater, and surface water samples fortified at 1.0 ??g·L^?1, the obtained mean absolute recoveries were 50%?C130% with relative standard deviations of less than 20% for most analytes. The new method demonstrated three advantages: 1) no manipulation except the fortification of surrogate standards prior to extraction; 2) significant cost reduction associated with sample collection, shipping, storage, and preparation; and 3) reduced exposure to hazardous solvents and other chemicals. As a result, this new automated method can be used as an effective approach for screening and/or compliance monitoring of selected semi-volatile organic compounds in water.     

Assessing multi-year changes in modeled and observed urban NOX concentrations from a dynamic model evaluation perspective

An investigation of the concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NO_X) from an air quality model and observations at monitoring sites was performed to assess the changes in NO_X levels attributable to changes in mobile emissions. This evaluation effort focused on weekday morning rush hours since urban NO_X concentrations are strongly influenced by the significant loading of emissions associated with heavy commuter traffic. On-road vehicle NO_X emissions generated by the MOBILE6 model revealed a steady decline with an overall decrease of 25% for 2002–2006. In this study, a dynamic model evaluation was undertaken that entails an assessment of the predicted concentration response of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model due to changes in NO_X emissions as well as to meteorological variability spanning 3-month summer periods over five consecutive years (2002–2006) against observed concentration changes at NO_X monitoring sites located primarily in urban areas of the eastern United States. Both modeled and observed hourly NO_X concentrations exhibited maximum values that coincided with the morning peak NO_X emissions. The notable results, based on 3-h average (6–9 AM local time) NO_X concentrations, derived between the 50th and 95th percentiles of cumulative concentration distributions, revealed that modeled changes at these elevated NO_X levels generally tracked the year-to-year variations in the observed concentration changes. When summer 2002 values were used as a reference, both modeled and observed results also showed definitive decreases in weekday morning urban NO_X concentrations over this multi-year period, which can be primarily attributed to the reductions in mobile source emissions. Whereas observed NO_X concentrations have declined by about 25% over this period consistent with the decline in the modeled mobile emission sector, modeled NO_X concentration changes were close to the decreases exhibited in all (mobile + other sectors) surface NO_X emissions whose overall decline was about 15% over this multi-year period.     

The phenology of phytoplankton blooms: Ecosystem indicators from remote sensing

Remote sensing offers many advantages in the development of ecosystem indicators for the pelagic zone of the ocean. Particularly suitable in this context are the indicators arising from time series that can be constructed from remotely sensed data. For example, using ocean-colour radiometry, the phenology of phytoplankton blooms can be assessed. Metrics defined in this way show promise as informative indicators for the entire pelagic ecosystem. A simple phytoplankton–substrate model, with forcing dependent on latitude and day number is used to explore the qualitative features of bloom phenology for comparison with the results observed in a suite of 10-year time series of chlorophyll concentration, as assessed by remote sensing, from the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. The model reveals features of the dynamics that might otherwise have been overlooked in evaluation of the observational data.     

Enhancing Conservation,Ecosystem Services,and Local Livelihoods through a Wildlife Premium Mechanism

We propose the wildlife premium mechanism as an innovation to conserve endangered large vertebrates. The performance‐based payment scheme would allow stakeholders in lower‐income countries to generate revenue by recovering and maintaining threatened fauna that can also serve as umbrella species (i.e., species whose protection benefits other species with which they co‐occur). There are 3 possible options for applying the premium: option 1, embed premiums in a carbon payment; option 2, link premiums to a related carbon payment, but as independent and legally separate transactions; option 3, link premiums to noncarbon payments for conserving ecosystem services (PES). Each option presents advantages, such as incentive payments to improve livelihoods of rural poor who reside in or near areas harboring umbrella species, and challenges, such as the establishment of a subnational carbon credit scheme. In Kenya, Peru, and Nepal pilot premium projects are now underway or being finalized that largely follow option 1. The Kasigau (Kenya) project is the first voluntary carbon credit project to win approval from the 2 leading groups sanctioning such protocols and has already sold carbon credits totaling over $1.2 million since June 2011. A portion of the earnings is divided among community landowners and projects that support community members and has added over 350 jobs to the local economy. All 3 projects involve extensive community management because they occur on lands where locals hold the title or have a long‐term lease from the government. The monitoring, reporting, and verification required to make premium payments credible to investors include transparent methods for collecting data on key indices by trained community members and verification of their reporting by a biologist. A wildlife premium readiness fund would enable expansion of pilot programs needed to test options beyond those presented here. Mejora de la Conservación, Servicios del Ecosistema y Calidad de Vida Local Mediante un Mecanismo de Compensación de Vida Silvestre     

Thermal anomaly mapping from night MODIS imagery of USA, a tool for environmental assessment

A method is presented for elevation, latitude and longitude decorrelation stretch of multi-temporal MODIS MYD11C3 imagery (monthly average night land surface temperature (LST) across USA and Mexico). Multiple linear regression analysis of principal components images (PCAs) quantifies the variance explained by elevation (H), latitude (LAT), and longitude (LON). The multi-temporal LST imagery is reconstructed from the residual images and selected PCAs by taking into account the portion of variance that is not related to H, LAT, LON. The reconstructed imagery presents the magnitude the standardized LST value per pixel deviates from the H, LAT, LON predicted. LST anomaly is defined as a region that presents either positive or negative reconstructed LST value. The environmental assessment of USA indicated that only for the 25 % of the study area (Mississippi drainage basin), the LST is predicted by the H, LAT, LON. Regions with milled climatic pattern were identified in the West Coast while the coldest climatic pattern is observed for Mid USA. Positive season invariant LST anomalies are identified in SW (Arizona, Sierra Nevada, etc.) and NE USA.